For Syracuse players, Final Four is another stage on which to display their ... shoes?

Syracuse, N.Y. — On Tuesday afternoon, when Syracuse players were preparing to board a bus to take them to Hancock Airport for their Final Four flight to Atlanta, Dan Shworles was busy shoving shoes into slots.

Shworles is the SU basketball equipment manager. He said Tuesday that players would be permitted to stow three pairs of shoes for the Atlanta experience. Road trips usually limit Orange players to two pairs.

Syracuse basketball players, if you haven’t guessed from the multihued and multifaceted array of shoes they wear over the course of one season, can be a bit obsessive about what they put on their feet.

A recent poll of players confirmed that Brandon Triche and Rakeem Christmas have the biggest shoe habit, with Dajuan Coleman lurking as a potential contender.

Triche estimated he owns about 75 pairs of shoes, a portion of which are dedicated solely to basketball. Players often order them online, then wait (and pester Shworles) for their arrival at the Melo Center. Sometimes they buy them at local stores.

“I just get different shoes, the red and green ones, the Christmas shoes. I just made some new ones for the game I played (last month),” Christmas said. “I just like shoes in general. A habit, I guess. It’s just fun.”

SU guard Brandon Triche, seen here in his latest pair of basketball shoes, goes up against Indiana's Jordan Hulls in the NCAA Tournament.Dick Blume | dblume@syracuse.com

“Some of it is the demand for them. You might like a shoe, but if everybody else likes ‘em you might just get ‘em because they’re considered ‘exclusive,’” Triche said. “For the most part, I get shoes that I actually like.”

Triche has changed his shoes at halftime this year. Orange players say they’re swayed by the style but stick to the shoes that fit best for games.

And all those shoes add up, from a monetary perspective. SU provides shoes to its players each season, but many of the shoes the players wear are purchased by the players themselves.

Christmas acknowledges that shoe hoarding can be an expensive hobby. Triche has said his dad has frequently footed the bill for his shoes.